Plainfield woman working to help disabled children

December 16, 2013|By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Chicago Tribune reporter

Jimmy Bajner, a 9-year-old developmentally disabled Plainfield boy, rides a horse at Ready Set Ride, a therapeutic facility in Plainfield. His mother has started an online fundraising campaign to help the non-profit with its costs. (Handout, Chris Bajner)

To hear Plainfield resident Chris Bajner tell it, her 9-year-old son, Jimmy, is generally as happy as any other little boy.

But Jimmy was diagnosed with Chromosome 18q Deletion Syndrome when he was a baby. It is a rare defect that affects children in different ways, according to the National Institutes of Health.

"Basically, it all depends where on the chromosome he's missing the piece, and how big a piece he's missing," Bajner said.

In Jimmy's case, it has meant that the boy will likely never walk on his own or utter anything beyond "mom" or his brother's name, she said.

But Jimmy has no problem communicating his excitement when his parents pull up to Ready Set Ride, a Plainfield-based nonprofit that offers horse-based therapy for children.

"When we pull into the parking lot, he starts clapping his hands," she said. "He knows what's about to happen."

But the organization operates mostly on donations, so Bajner has started an online fundraising effort to help it stay afloat.

Via her "Keep the Barn Doors Open" page on gofundme.com, Bajner has raised nearly $4,000 for Ready Set Ride, with the goal of raising the full $5,000 by the end of the year.

Bajner said she heard about how horse therapy could help her son during a conference about five years ago.

"When you put the kids on the horse, their hips actually mimic the same motion their hips would move if you were walking," said Bajner, 42, who works in information technology.

After the conference, Bajner said she started researching facilities.

"By the grace of Google, I looked for therapeutic horse riding near Plainfield and found Ready Set Ride," she said. "I never even knew this little barn existed. It's almost like it was meant to be for us, right in our backyard."

After about eight weekly sessions back in 2008, Bajner said her son no longer slouched and was sitting more steadily in the saddle.

"I told my husband, this kid's going to stay on this horse forever," she said of her son's improvement.

Since then, Bajner said Jimmy is there every Sunday from April to October.

The therapy builds balance and core stability in kids, Bajner said, while also helping communication.

The sessions are not covered by insurance, and Bajner said her family pays $500 out of pocket per each eight-week session.

"It's a huge expense," she said. "But when you see that black and white difference before and after, you find that $500, because my kid has to attend that class."

The organization holds occasional fundraisers for the horses and barn upkeep, Bajner said.

Ready Set Ride has been open since 2001, assisting special needs and terminally ill children, according to its website.

The organization follows Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship guidelines and operates mostly on donations, according to the site.

Its techniques focus on providing a horse as a means of mobility for children with a variety of disorders, and incorporates physical, speech, occupational, developmental and recreational therapy, according to the site.

The horses in that barn on Essington Road have become essential to Jimmy and his family, Bajner said.

"I need my kid to do this," she said. "I need to make sure they stay open."